Background

Atlanta Girl?

Alessandra Job, or Sandra and Sandy as she is known, claims to be the daughter of an Atlantan business man and his housewife: Luke(Lucius) and Mara(Maeraea) Job. She is an average high-schooler, on the swim team, and of average grades. Though, with the arrival at the Institute, she seems to have taken on a tutor to help with the advanced subjects.

Will the Real Alessandra Please Stand Up

Alessandra, however, is not exactly who she claims to be. Born in Atlantis, not Atlanta, as Tethys Alessandra Diaprepia, has been raised and groomed to be a diplomat to the Surface and the nations there. Before she is ready for this task, however, her mother and father decided to speak to some old contacts they had, and enlisted Sandra in the Steranko Institute. This provided Sandra a chance to associate with surface-dwellers intimately, and to do so without needing to hide her abilities lest they fear her.

Not the first to explore the surface world, Alessandra follows after her uncle - her father's younger brother - Casius Ephaeseus Diaprepia. Though, must of the human world knows him as Tidal - an Atlantean who came to make the world realize there were civilizations in their oceans, but learned to love the people of the surface and protect them. It was Casius' idea that one of the younger generation be chosen and groomed to be a Diplomat to the world above, for Casius had fallen in love with a woman of the land - only to see her killed in revenge by villainous souls. To that end he retreated into the sea for a time, mourning her loss. In some ways, when Sandra was chosen for this duty, Casius adopted her as the child he would never have with his beloved Sarah. Quietly, however, did he see her education directed, and it was Casius that suggested to Lucius his brother, that Sandra attend the Steranko Institute and learn by immersion about humanity.

Personality

A Whole New World

It is, of course, a completely different world for Sandra. She is doing her best not to show just how overwhelmed she is with this new world at the Institute, and outside. She is doing her best to stick to her 'story', so that the students treat her no differently than anyone else. She understands the need for learning, but the regimented classes are unlike the tutors and free-form learning of home. She even misses some of the more intensive training sessions with her father's man-at-arms that she had to give up to come here.

The Three Virtues of Atlantis

Still, her family is also a martial one – serving the people of Atlantis as diplomats and councilors and warriors. Much like the early Phoenicians and Minoans which were contemporaries of the Atlanteans, the lust for the glories of battle burn in Sandra, and she must constantly temper them. Despite being cast down to the very depths, or because of it, Atlanteans are a people of Pride, Honor, and duty – and Sandra is no exception.

Duty ("When all is gone, Duty yet remains.") is important to Sandra, or she wouldn't be on the surface world. One day, the surface dwellers will become increasingly curious about the oceans and the society under the waves, and someone will need to negotiate with these expansionist nations and sue for peace. After all, Atlantis still stings from it's own civil war which put her great-grandfather on the throne.

Alessandra is very mindful of her station in life – especially Atlantean life. Her family must retain the highest symbolence of unshakable Honor ("Of all a man hath, the only thing of worth is Honor.") – their words are their bond, in surface-dweller terms. Still, as a teenager, it is hard for Alessandra sometimes, especially when the other students do not understand Honor-debts, Honor-duels, and how important a person's honor is. Adapting to life on the surface world is not easy.

Perhaps the hardest point of contention with Alessandra is her pride ("If it were not for Pride in his achievements, a man would do nothing at all.") – the greatest weakness in an Atlantean, perhaps. It is difficult to hide her pride in her people, their accomplishments, despite the harshness of the environment they live on, their past, and even their warrior nature. And wo be unto those who try to wound Alessandra's pride, one of her three virtues. For this reason, Alessandra, despite wanting, desperately to make friends and find a life she can ease into, for she will live it for several years, can seem stand-offish and snobbish to the other students.

Complications:
Dehydration: Sandra needs water in order to survive. She must be submersed in water for at least a few minutes a day, though more makes her more comfortable. If she doesn't do this or experiences a great deal of drying heat in a short period of time, the GM can render her fatigued or even exhausted. Long-term lack could kill.

Sucker for a Pretty Face: Sandra is a typical teenager in some ways. Pretty boys interest her. The GM can give her a HP to make her crush on a male villain. She will not want to fight him and may even try to prevent others from fighting him, while she tries to talk him out of being a villain. She's easily manipulated in this time too. These 'crushes' usually only last a few days, but they can be troublesome.

Surface Technologically Un-Adept: Used to Atlantian Technomagic, the gadgets and gizmos of the surface-world are anathema to Sandra. Even doing her best, somehow she manages to destroy electronics if held or used by herself for long periods of time. Water leaking into a cell phone, an mp3 player destroyed mysteriously, computer keyboards freezing up if used for more than a few minutes.